[...]... The setting of the wilderness tradition, the Sinai Peninsula, is one of the most intriguing geographical regions in the world Understanding the terrain and climate enable readers of the wilderness tradition to comprehend better the context of many of the episodes Hence, an introduction to the geography and ecological zones of Sinai is offered in chapter 3 In the years since 1997, a number of important... including the problem of the origin of the name of Israel s God, Yahweh This investigation of the wilderness tradition determines that it is vital to understand both ancient Israel as a people and the foundation of its religious heritage Furthermore, the evidence considered in this volume not only affirms the authenticity of the wilderness tradition but also further supports the biblical tradition that Israel. .. Chronological Charts, xxi 1 The Wilderness Tradition, 3 2 The Wilderness Tradition and the Historian of Religion, 23 3 Sinai: The Great and Terrible Wilderness, 35 4 The Geography of the Exodus: Ramesses to the Sea, 47 5 The Location of the Re(e)d Sea, 75 6 The Mountain of God, 111 7 From Egypt to Mt Sinai: Traveling and Living in the Wilderness, 149 8 The Sinai Legislation, 177 9 Israel s Desert Sanctuary,... wilderness tradition to Israel s religious identity, the events from the Sinai wilderness are frequently recalled in the Psalms, ancient Israel s liturgical corpus Reflecting the theophany at Mt Sinai (Exod 19), Psalm 68 states: ‘ The earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain, at the presence of God; yon Sinai quaked at the presence of God, the God of Israel ’ (v 8, RSV) and ‘ the Lord came from Sinai into the. .. used in this book to refer to that body of ¯ literature that is set in the wilderness (midbar) After crossing the Re(e)d Sea in Exodus 14–15, the Hebrews arrived in Sinai; this marks the beginning of the wilderness tradition The books of Leviticus and ¯ Numbers are also set ‘ in the wilderness ’ (bemidbar); in fact, these are the opening words of the latter book and served as the Hebrew name of Numbers... traveled and lived in Sinai? Were there millions involved? Why is there no direct archaeological evidence for the Israelites in Sinai? Does the wilderness itinerary of Exodus and Numbers make sense? These probing questions are addressed in chapter 7 Without a doubt, receiving the law at Mt Sinai through Moses as intermediary is one of the most memorable episodes of the Bible Before discussing the law itself... in Egypt, the exodus, and Joshua’s conquest of Canaan that has led these scholars to reject the historicity of these narratives This is not the place for a review of the debate of the 1980s and 1990s, but the interested reader is encouraged to review my book, Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition. 13 In addition to surveying and critiquing the theories of the key figures,... exodus-sojourn tradition and on the ‘‘conquest’’ of Canaan as presented in the book of Joshua Surprisingly little attention has been given to the wilderness tradition, which is central to Israel s religious traditions The Mosaic or Sinaitic covenant, the law, the origin of Israel s cult, the ark of the covenant, the tabernacle, and the Levitical priesthood all find their origin in this section of the Torah,... to reconstruct the Qantara-Baluza region of North Sinai Jessica T Hoffmeier, my daughter and a member of the Tell el-Borg staff, is responsible for preparing the illustrations for this book, and she created three of the maps (figures 1, 4, and 10) I joined the faculty of the Divinity School of Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois, in the fall of 1999, because of the administration’s... that some of the geographical discussions in Israel in Egypt be reassessed First, there continues to be a steady stream of studies that question the historical reliability of most portions of the Torah, including the wilderness tradition and geography of the exodus Some of these include Thomas Thompson’s The Mythic Past: Biblical Archaeology and the Myth of Israel (1999), Israel Finkelstein and Neil . h0" alt="" Ancient Israel in Sinai: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Wilderness Tradition JAMES K. HOFFMEIER OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Ancient Israel in Sinai This page intentionally. blank Ancient Israel in Sinai The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Wilderness Tradition james k. hoffmeier 1 2005 3 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s. permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging -in- Publication Data Hoffmeier, James Karl, 1951– Ancient Israel in Sinai : the evidence for the authenticity of the wilderness tradition